high buck hunters! please help!

[Chesapeake]

I hardly carry the Mt house bags and if I do its the smaller Pro pack version. I field strip all my freeze dried stuff down to quart ziplock freezer bags. Much lighter and more compact. They handle boiling water just fine. Carry an extra in case a hard noodle pokes a hole in one. You can buy the Mt house meals in bulk tin cans, often cheaper than in bags.

I also use trecking poles and a self built scabbard for the rifle.

"where people are not" is a relative term. You will find that distance from the trail head isnt necesarilly the secret. The trails wander all around the wilderness. You can hike 10 miles down a ridge just to end up at the top of a bowl with an Outfitter set up in the bottom of it. Pre season scouting will show you where the hikers go, but not necesarily the hunters. But it is somewhat easy to identify hunters by the camp sites they leave. You can often get an idea if an area is hunted by looking at and for camp sites on your scouting trips.

The crest trail seems to get hikers all year. As do some of the easy to get to day hike type trails.High mountain lakes are a people magnets.

Be fully prepared to arrive at the trail head and see several vehicles. Also be prepared to hike in several miles just to have other hunters already there, or show up around the weekend. Have a plan A, B, C and D camping spot, as well as hunting spots. Dont expect to be all alone in the wilderness with no other hunters in sight. And dont get discuraged if other hunters show up. Its pretty small odds that you will find a place to be alone in.

[Pathfinder101]

40rds?? You can't have any confidence in your shooting ability. Wow. Thats a lot weight right there.

It was more incase I got lost or something else bad happened.

Like maybe the marmot version of a zombie-apocalypse, or a rampaging herd of angry bears....

[hillbillyhunting]

40rds?? You can't have any confidence in your shooting ability. Wow. Thats a lot weight right there.

It was more incase I got lost or something else bad happened.

Like maybe the marmot version of a zombie-apocalypse, or a rampaging herd of angry bears....

Grey jays steeling all of your food needed to survive?  Nuclear holocaust while in the wilderness and disconnected from society?

[JimmyHoffa]

Carry what ever ammo you need...I carry between 12-20 rifle rounds (bolt gun), a loaded revolver with one reload for a total of up to 32.  A guy that goes with me on occasion carries a .308 that takes the standard NATO mags--one in the gun with 2 spares, and a glock with two spare mags, totaling 90 rds.  Not really that bad, as ammo is easy to pack and shift the center of gravity of the pack to a comfortable spot.

[belkaholic]

my next thing i am working on is a good map. am i missing something or is Chelan the closest high buck hunt to puyallup? what are trecking poles, megalites and UL bivey??  thanks again guys.

[longknife]

Dont mean to thread jack but anyone remember Sam Barstal, or Loui Raphael? used to pack in from Suattle creek.

The last time Loui went in , he went alone, and had a horse roll over him, and broke his hip. The man rode the whole way out from ______ lake! Search and rescue met him at the bottom of the mountain. I heard the story again from the same med team in my daughters hunters ed class, odd how people make their marks in this world.
Toughest sob i ever met!
R.I.P my friend!


Very unforgiving up there, but understand the love for the high country!

[fillthefreezer]

my next thing i am working on is a good map. am i missing something or is Chelan the closest high buck hunt to puyallup? what are trecking poles, megalites and UL bivey??  thanks again guys.

trekking poles are like ski poles for hiking, help with ascent and balance
megalite is their tent model i believe and bivy is a bivysack like the ones offered by outdoor research.

[Chesapeake]

UL Bivy is an ultralight water resistant sack that your sleeping bag goes in while you sleep. There are lots of brands and models, some designed as a stand alone type minimalist shelter. The one I use is a Blackdiamond model that is silicone impregnated nylon and DWR coated polyester (or maybe its nylon). Its nor suited for stand alone use in rain, but works great under a tarp as a secondary water barrier.

Trekking poles are ski poles for hiking. They really help with ballance, let your arms do some of the work on the climbs, and let your arms take some of the impact from decents. They also double as a tent pole, shooting sticks, bine support/brace, ect.... I use the Blackdiamond carbon fiber ones.

Megalight is a TP style silicone impregnated nylon tent by Black diamond. Other outfits like Kifaru and Ti Goat make similar.

With backpacking gear you can get great gear with good performance for decent prices, but to get that same performance in gear that is a bit lighter gets real expensive.

[belkaholic]

i thankyou wise hunters or all your help! i can see that i am not ready for this hunt yet. i can handle the distance and pack. its the equipment and distance i need to drive to scout and be well prepared, on whare i am hunting. thankyou for all your help again, i will do it , just not this year.

[Rickyrebar]

1. Be in shape, take a few scouting trips to the area you are considering for your hunt. Those trips will help you prepare for the main event.
2. Gear, quality, not quantity. Take only what you "need", each person is different in their "needs", you have decide what you "need" and if are willing to carry it. Your scouting trips can help you decide between "need" & want. You will discover the true meaning of "need" when you start your journey with your fully loaded pack. Give me a weeks worth of the following and I'll be fine... Mt. House meals in a bag, 5 Hour energy shots, a quality water filter!
3. Research, have a good understanding of where you are going, how to get there, what to expect once you are there, good maps / maps showing the wilderness boundaries, water sources.
4. Have a plan, have a back up plan. It would truly suck to spend the summer scouting an area to hunt only to wake up on opening morning to find another group in your camp with the same ground game as yours (not very likely in the wilderness areas but something to consider).
5. A good hunting partner / partners (same as gear, quality).
Finally, don't put it off... get out and do it, you aren't going to be any younger or in better shape, or better prepared, or better equipped next year... that just you procrastinating. Pull the trigger and do it! I did last year and my only regret was I didn't start doing it 20 years ago, best experience ever!

[Vek]

Your clothing should work as a system - meaning there are no extras (or things left unworn when it's cold/wet) besides one pair each of drawers, liner socks, and heavy socks.   

Mind the weight of your clothes.  A versatile system would be midweight polypro or merino baselayer, primaloft jacket (patagonia puff or similar), lightweight, fast-drying pants (REI Mistral or similar), and waterproof shell/pants (marmot precip or similar), and a beanie hat.  I do a real lightweight poly t-shirt combined with a lightweight fleece for a baselayer on top, as a variation.  This gives me more comfort when I'm working hard. 

Newbs always bring more or heavier stuff than they need.  You don't need a multi-tool.  You don't need a big knife (havalon, 5 extra blades, a sharp victorinox paring knife and a small pocket sharpener will field butcher anything up to a moose).  You don't need more than 8 rounds of ammo.  You don't need a tent with a floor - think Golite floorless or a tarp (bring a very small piece of tyvek to put your pad on).  You don't usually need any extraordinary sleeping bag waterproofing (bivy), unless you KNOW that you'll be camping above treeline in a freaking storm.  You don't need a daypack.  You don't need a nalgene (one 2L bladder and one 32 oz gatorade bottle).  You don't need a water filter (aqua mira drops work great).  You don't need anything more for a pad than a ridgerest (bed location and prep UNDER the pad is critical).  You don't usually need a GPS in mountainous areas, unless you got stuff stashed where you shouldn't (i.e. away from a landmark or choke point).  You don't need freeze-dried food - google homemade hamburger helper and make it using "gravel" (browned and dried ground meat).  You don't need expensive energy bars (google Logan Bread, and substitute whole wheat flour, and some cut oats and cracked wheat for half of the flour called for, and add brown rice syrup and agave nectar and raisins/craisins to taste for sweetness).  Buy a used Dana Designs internal frame pack for half the cost of any of the so-called "hunting" packs, and have a better pack than any but the newest kifarus. 

Black Diamond 2-section collapsible ski poles are tougher than most "hiking" poles.  Cut off what you don't need from the lower section to save weight. 

You don't need a 10-pound rifle.  Sell all your guns and buy a Kimber Montana in 308, 7-08 or 260. 

You don't need a giant scope.  4x or 6x fixed leupold is perfect. 

You don't need a hunting partner (they're REALLY heavy) - but you better figure out how to dead reckon first. 

For starters, anyway. 

[Miles]

I can agree with everything VEK said above, except ditching the water filter.   I've found that in some instances the water filter can allow you to fill your resevoir or bottle where you otherwise wouldn't have been able to.   There was a place this past fall where I could barely get the water to suck up with my filter.  Without a filter I would have been either digging to make a hole or going without water.   Just something to think about, and of course it all depends on the situation (as does all gear).  If you're hunting an area with creeks and streams everywhere than the tablets will work great.   

[hillbillyhunting]

I can agree with everything VEK said above, except ditching the water filter.   I've found that in some instances the water filter can allow you to fill your resevoir or bottle where you otherwise wouldn't have been able to.   There was a place this past fall where I could barely get the water to suck up with my filter.  Without a filter I would have been either digging to make a hole or going without water.   Just something to think about, and of course it all depends on the situation (as does all gear).  If you're hunting an area with creeks and streams everywhere than the tablets will work great.

   With a water filter you can get water out of a muddy puddle of water.  The tablets dont filter the stuff that doesnt taste good.

[AKBowman]

On the subject of a bivvy. I've got the Unishelter Bivy by Integral Designs. I was looking for a Bivvy that was lighter than a tent but more substantial than a sack over my bag. When I'm going on an extended mtn hunt with one other person I will bring my two man Northface Tadpole two man and use it for myself because we can share some weight between the two keeping my pack the same weight.

The Unishelter has a mesh liner with a waterproof shell, it also has a single pole which gives you space over your head acting almost like a small, super light weight one man tent. It has tie offs on both ends so you can "rock it down" pulling both ends apart gives a little bit of loft to the bivvy. This is really really nice when you get socked in and have to spend an extended amount of time in your shelter. If you spend enough time in the wilderness areas this will happen. With a basic bivvy that doesnt have the single pole its so much harder to tough it out.

Unfortunately if you are just starting out your pack will probably be a bit heavier b/c the truth is in order to keep gear (tent, weapon, stove, clothes, pack, etc) light and keep the quality high it costs $. Unless you have $ sitting around to spend most people I know who have light weight/high quality gear have taken years to acquire everything buying items on sale, etc.

Lay everything out and eliminate what you know you wont need. Go on scouting packs overnight and again try to eliminate what you wont need. One thing I wouldnt scimp on is as high a quality, light as you can get, most expensive as you can afford, synthetic bag. 20 degree would be about right for the high hunt. If you go with a bivvy this will add significant warmth to your bag. My 20 degree NF Cats Meow couples with my heavier bivvy rates down to about 10 I would guess.
 I havent gone on a trip like this since 2009 when it was 11 days in October in Alaska for sheep. I think my pack started at 65# and ended at 33#. For a deer high hunt of 7 days you should be able to keep it between 35-40# with a bivvy.

Clothes I bring for a 7 day hunt are:

2 pairs of polypro sock liners
2 pairs of smartwool socks
2 pairs non-cotton underwear
1 set of light/med weight long underwear
1 light weight tightly woven micro fleece long sleeve pullover shirt
1 set light weight packable rainwear
1 pair 235 gram light weight tightly woven micro fleece pants
1 micro fleece beenie
1 set light waterproof gloves
Asolo Fugitive GTX boots

[AKBowman]

Heres a pic of my TNF Tadpole rocked down. I used nylon rope, tied or looped aroud and rock then a bunch of rocks stacked in front of and on top of that. The wind sheer off the glaciers that time of year was nuts and you could hear the gusts ripping through the valley probably 30-40 seconds before it arrived. I would guess the gusts were between 60-75mph. With the guy (sp?) lines completely locked down this tent is bulletproof. I think I must have had easily 60# of rocks on each line and the wind would blow so hard against the sides of the tent it would drag the rocks to the point I had to get up every few hrs and drag them back so the lines were tight.

I have all the conifidence in the world in this tent now. My buddy was using a 3 man REI brand and he bend a pole and shredded the aluminum section that connects two sections of the poles. Good times though.